


The Emperor's Winterfair Gift

by misura



Category: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-12-24
Updated: 2008-12-24
Packaged: 2018-01-25 06:33:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1636670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What Gregor wanted for Winterfair.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Emperor's Winterfair Gift

**Author's Note:**

  * For [anotherusedpage](https://archiveofourown.org/users/anotherusedpage/gifts).



 

 

Occasionally, Ivan wondered if madness might be a family-trait, given that both his cousins seemed to display signs of it rather often. 

"You're out of your mind!" The thing was, of course, that madness _did_ run into the family - and at that realization, Ivan's mind usually and hurriedly changed the subject, because there was madness and then there was _madness_ , and Ivan appreciated the difference well enough to be thankful for it. In private. When Gregor wasn't trying to press him into attending an official reception as anything other than the Emperor's other cousin - the one who wasn't hyper, brilliant and (thus) dangerous.

An imperial eyebrow was raised. "Surely you are not doubting your emperor's wisdom?" Gregor asked in that mild tone he reserved for idiots, really stubborn old men and Miles with a bad plan.

Ivan noted that Gregor hadn't used the m-word. Or the s-word (as in: asking if Ivan was doubting Gregor's sanity).

"Wouldn't dream of it." He did plenty of that while he was awake, after all.

Gregor gave him a look.

"I was just asking my cousin Gregor if he might have gone mad," Ivan added - rather bravely, if he did say so himself. Then again, he wasn't Miles. People - even those who knew him well, generally took what he said at face-value, or dismissed it as coming from a well-known idiot.

Nobody would ever accuse Ivan of being subtle and most of the time, he considered that an advantage.

"A rather fine distinction, wouldn't you agree? I might even call it ... subtle."

Ivan squirmed. Rationally, he was quite certain (well, almost quite certain) that neither Gregor nor Miles were able to read his mind. Given how often they seemed to do exactly that though, the knowledge that it was all in Ivan's mind was a cold comfort.

On the positive side, that 'I' had been decidedly not-imperial.

"Seems perfectly straightforward to me, sire," Ivan said.

"Mmm. And which of the two of us would you say you were carrying on a relationship with?"

Ivan _liked_ talking to girls, so long as they didn't laugh at him or tried to poke holes in his best stories. He'd never be so crude as to compare the pleasure of talking to a girl to that of having sex with one (and besides, some girls were more fun to talk to than to have sex with, and vice versa) but Ivan prided himself on not being the type of man who was interested in only one thing.

Talking to Gregor was far too much like talking to Miles though. Except that Miles had never shown any interest in having sex with him - a fact for which Ivan had never been properly grateful until three months ago. Of course, Gregor was also unlikely to involve Ivan in any dangerous activities that involved lying to high-placed officials, risking life and limb, and being kidnapped. Ivan wasn't sure yet if the two things evened out. Given how unlikely it was he'd ever be given a choice whom he'd get to talk to, it didn't seem very important. Besides, you never knew what tomorrow might bring.

"Neither." The idea that he was having sex with the Emperor was one Ivan avoided strenuously and with remarkable success, considering. 'Cousin Gregor', on the other hand, was the kid who always teamed up with cousin Miles to make Ivan's life miserable. Ivan might have dropped the kid in a pool if he'd been on fire, but only so that he could taunt him about owing Ivan his life later.

Gregor's expression implied a certain amount of curiosity, inviting Ivan to elaborate.

"It's just ... _you_ ," Ivan tried.

"We are the Emperor of Barrayar," Gregor replied. "At all times."

Ivan almost asked about that time when Gregor'd 'fallen' off a balcony, but didn't. Instead, he borrowed a line from one of those holovids he only bought because women seemed to enjoy watching them enough to agree to stay for dinner before (or during) and dessert after:

"That's not all you are."

Gregor's eyes narrowed and for one moment, Ivan wondered if Gregor'd comment on his taste in holovids, although Ivan couldn't honestly picture him ever having seen a so-called 'romantic comedy'.

"It's all you need to remember me to be when I'm making a simple request of you."

"You mean it wasn't a request," Ivan said.

"It was a request from your Emperor," Gregor replied. "Are you not Our loyal subject, Ivan?"

"Are you not my cousin Gregor who always got me in trouble when we were kids?"

Gregor frowned. "And out again, if memory serves correctly."

"Actually, _Miles_ did that most of the time." Ivan suspected Gregor had always kept to the back because he felt that the future ruler of Barrayar ought not to abuse his position, but this hardly seemed an opportune moment to say that out loud. "What happened to 'of course, we'll need to be discrete'? What happened to 'no, Ivan, I can't tell your mother to stop introducing you to eligible young women?' "

"I changed my mind."

"Right." Ivan cocked his head.

"For reasons both political and personal."

"I don't really want to know what they are, do I?"

Gregor smiled. "There are reasons why I'm having this conversation with you rather than with Miles, and they're not simply that Miles is straight whereas you are - shall we say 'curious'?"

"I spent my whole life not sticking my nose in other people's business."

"And look where it brought you."

 


End file.
